Speaking about the all important game beginning Sunday, March 8, TN coach WV Raman said, “It’s a case of two good sides playing and you would expect a positive game.”

Tamil Nadu’s only loss of the season was to Karnataka in the opening game of the tournament. Reflecting on the game and TN’s journey so far, the coach said, “Let’s also not forget that we were ahead for the first couple of days. A session can go wrong in a long season. But the point is that was three months ago and since then a lot of things have happened in terms of both sides progressing the way they did. We are not going to sit back and look at that particular game. That is way behind.”

Speaking about the opposition he said, “It’s a good side, they have been playing well as a side, and the thing is that if you look at it, it’s good in a way. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose. This is a Tamil Nadu side that has come through a lot of difficult phases, and it’s a team which has evolved as the tournament went on. As far as we are concerned, we have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

“If you look at it, it’s not been a canter for them. Mumbai had the better of them here (at Wankhede) and then they had to really fight hard through the tournament. This also means they know how to handle those situations. The way I see it, the team which is able to identify the key moment of the game, and try and do what's supposed to be done will have the last laugh,” Raman said.

“I am always one who doesn’t really look too much into the opposition, what they have and what they don’t have. We always believe in us doing what we are supposed to do. As long as we can replicate what we did in the earlier games (to come out on top), that’s what is going to matter,” he stated.

Spinners have played a crucial role in TN’s success in the run-up to the finals. Asked if they would miss the home advantage which had assisted the spinners he replied, “The point is we had to only play on turners. The re-laid pitch has not settled down and it’s not hard enough.

The only option left was to either play on a featherbed or play on a track which can be made to help spinners, and we chose the latter option.

And that did help. I think it is the games against Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai – both those teams were good enough to qualify, so it was a question of a shootout. We had to take that calculated risk and luckily we won those games. That’s when it started turning around. It gave the boys the belief that they can come through if they apply themselves.

“If you look at it, after that game against Mumbai, we played in Baroda, where spinners have very little role to play. And then the tracks we got at Jaipur and at the Eden Gardens (in the semifinal vs Maharashtra), spinners were sidelined. Not because they’re not good enough, but because of the conditions and the combination we like to play on such surfaces.”

“They have gone and done their jobs as well as they were expected to,” he said while discussing the spinners and their role through the tournament.

Explaining the way TN’s seam attack has shaped, he said, “It is unfortunate. T Nataraj had a bit of a problem. He played a game and was very promising with his left-arm seam. Then we had to see what we are left with, then J Kaushik had injures and we had to see what we had available and make the best of what we had. To Prasanth Paramweswaran’s credit, though he has not played first-class cricket for a while, he has come back and done what was expected off him reasonably well.

“It’s come to a stage when you can’t really take too many decisions now, so that way it’s easy. Let’s see [about the second spinner]. That will require a lot of thought as to what needs to be done, so let me put my head towards at the last minute,” he said about the bowling line-up.

Speaking about Baba Indrajith and Vijay Shankar who have contributed to the batting he said, “They have been one of the reasons for us getting to where we are now. Both these boys have put their hands up under pressure and delivered some useful performances. In the last few games, even the game against Mumbai, Vijay Shankar played a very important role. It’s good to see youngsters, when they are pitch-forked in such situations, fighting against odds, prevailing over the situation and coming out on top. That’s a very encouraging thing.”

While talking about the Wankhede wicket, the coach said, “This will be a typical Wankhede wicket. It's all about not trying to look into things and read into things. It’s a question of going out there and responding to the situations, as simple as that.”source: bcci.tv